The Pines / Brendan Hogan

The mysterious sound of the Pines fuses Benson Ramsey's ethereal, otherworldly, heart-piercing songs with David Huckfelt's earthy, darkly romantic, and rough-hewn visionary tales. With masterful guitar work, beautiful vocals, and the graceful keyboard and vocal additions of Benson's brother Alex Ramsey, the core of the Pines' sound captivates and elevates with rare intimacy. Creating quite a buzz around the Twin Cities and across the Upper Midwest, the Pines caught the attention of acclaimed indie label Red House Records and signed with them in 2007, releasing its breakout album, Sparrows in the Bell, named one of the top roots releases of the year by Q Magazine. The Pines wowed audiences at the 2008 South By Southwest (SXSW) and were named one of the musical highlights by CMT.com. The band followed up its success with Tremolo, an album that garnered rave reviews in magazines like Rolling Stone and got airplay on tastemaker stations such as KCRW and the Current. It landed them coveted performances on Daytrotter.com and Bob Harris's popular BBC show, winning them new fans across North America and Europe. A great live act whether performing as a stripped-down trio (Huckfelt and the Ramsey brothers) or as a full rock band, the Pines' devoted cult following and has led them to share the stage with such diverse acts as Bon Iver, Mavis Staples, Arcade Fire, Iris DeMent, Mason Jennings, and Spider John Koerner. The Pines just finished a North American tour with Mason Jennings in 25 cities, opening for him and playing in his band.

Brendan Hogan is supporting SilverQuick with regional tours of the U.S. He also hosts, programs, and produces a weekly music program called "Dark Was the Night," featuring blues, roots, and songwriters on WUMB radio in Boston. NPR's Car Talk featured Hogan's song "Big Black Car" on its popular syndicated radio program in November 2011. Hogan came in at No. 31 on WUMB's listener-voted "Top 100" artists list for 2011.